


A Different Kind of DNA

by RuleBreakingMormon



Category: Original Work
Genre: A little, Agressive behavior, F/M, Giants, Internment Camps, Possessive Behavior, Power Suits, YY Chromosome, but not for a very long while, its all pg i think, maybe some smut, tagging this is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-28
Packaged: 2017-12-16 05:06:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/858130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuleBreakingMormon/pseuds/RuleBreakingMormon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>47 was just a number. But not in this internment camp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Giants

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is a fic that my dad and I are writing together. I want to see how you guys like it so PLEASE LEAVE KUDOS OR COMMENTS. I need to know how you guys like it. Or if I need to make changes.

The transport lands with a solid thud outside the gates. Joshua is already on his way over as I climb out, greeting me with a simple flip of his hand.

"What's up 47?" He opens the gate and lumbers out, locking it behind him. We guards learned a while ago not to complain about the fact that he won't let us on his land. He respects us, so we respect him, and never go on his land without probable cause, or permission. 

"Nothing much, 128." I responded through the suits voice modifier. It's a small joke between us to call each other by our numbers. But Joshua doesn't always do it for the joke; he honestly doesn't know my name. The giants aren't allowed to know who we are. 47 is the number emblazoned on my breast plate and various other pieces of my suit. I call it a suit, but it's not really. It's the standard exo-armor given to all the guards upon arrival. We have to have the power suits because it's the only match to the strength of the giants. "Time for your bi-monthly."

"Ah, damn, I was hoping to go another month without seeing the doc again."

"Sorry, you know it's required. Climb on up and we'll get through this a lot faster." Josh sighs as he climbs up into the open back of the transport, making it groan with the extra weight of his 445 earth pounds and 7'6" frame. But this isn't uncommon for giants. They aren't really giants, we just call them that because they are huge. They don't have chromosomes like the rest of humanity. Normal men have XY chromosomes, women have XX chromosomes, but the giants have YY chromosomes. 

In the year of 2499, we discovered that Einstein was correct. We could not go faster than light; but we could travel at the speed of light. We created ships that could do just that. We had already landed on Mars by that point in time, deeming it worthy of terraforming. The process started a few years after, and it took 200 years to complete. But the terraforming did something to the planet that we were not anticipating. 

The water that was under the surface held a bacteria that was released in the atmosphere. No one noticed it. It dissipated into the air, and the first settlers breathed it in without even knowing. A few generations were exposed to this bacteria, and the result was the first YY human. Scientists were concerned by this mutation; they had inhuman strength, and were far more aggressive than the rest of the populace. More and more of these men were born on Mars, and after the scientists discovered the bacteria, the government issued a decree that all YY men had to be detained in internment camps. We only have four of these camps on the whole planet. Considering our population growth, I think that 1087 giants is just too many. They didn't want these men hurting the public, and claimed it was for 'everyone’s safety'. It didn't make the headlines of the news reels, because the mutation was so rare. Only about 1 in a billion naturally conceived babies have it. 

Only those who work and live in the camp know the real reason why they are here. A rebellion called The Free People of Mars want to separate Mars from Earth, to have the ability to rule themselves. They have been attacking government buildings all over Mars. The government has yet to openly acknowledge the terrorist attacks, because they have been using the giants to suppress advances on covert missions. The government allows the giants to volunteer, and train, for these missions. Joshua has volunteered eleven times already. He says he likes being outside the camp. I don't believe him.

I climb in, sitting next to the my driver and partner, Dan Cook. To Joshua he's just 93.

I turn in my seat, looking back at Josh. "Are you all settled in back there?" 

"As ready as you are. Start her up. I don't want to miss my show." Dan and I chuckle. Josh doesn't have a TV. _"Never have and never will!"_ he always says. The transport groans, and lifts off, turning around to head back to the admin buildings. We fly over acres of farm land. The giants are allowed to have 20 acres each, as long as they use the land fruitfully. It takes 20 minutes to get to the main building. Dan lands on the roof, and we get out quickly to escort Josh to a lower level.

"You would think that the architects would consider that fam would be walking through here," I turn around to see Josh duck his head as he walks into the doctor's office.

"Dr. Cale?" I call out to the empty room. 

"Here! Just wait a sec," He shuffles around the corner and motions Josh to sit on the cot. It's made of reinforced steel so it won't break underneath him.

"Alright, Josh, you know the procedure." Dr.Cale has his back to us, his voice now muffled behind the face mask. "I'm going to take some of your blood, and a urine sample," He turns around, and walks up to Josh with syringe and cleaning equipment in hand, "and check your vitals and your lowjack to make sure it's still working proper." 

As he wipes Josh's arm, preparing it for the sample, Josh smiles devilishly at me. When the needle connects with his arm, he flexes, breaking the small piece of metal and startling Dr. Cale. Dan is laughing, his hands on his knees and Josh just has a small pleased smile on his face. 

"Goddamn it, Josh, You know I need to do this!" Dr. Cale turns around to get another needle, the broken one already trashed. 

"Sorry doc. Sometimes I can't resist." The comment inspires new chortles out of Dan, and I push him gently with my palm. 

"Get a hold of yourself, will you? I don't need to be taking care of two kids." Josh laughs at this, jarring the needle in his arm. 

"Hold still," Dr. Cale mummers. A few minutes later, Dr. Cale has cleared Josh and is pushing us out the door. "Was in the middle of an important call," I hear him complain. 

"Let's head back shall we?" Dan suggests, and motions for me to lead.  
I do a quick internal systems check on the suit, and head out the door. I want to make sure that all of my suits built in tranquilizer needles are ready for service. I have several in each arm and a few in my helmet and legs. They are a back up in the event a giant decides to get rough with us. They are pressure sensitive, and only take a small movement on my part to inject enough sedative to put a normal man in a coma for a month. Fortunately I've never had to use it on Joshua. I've used it on Ken on two separate occasions. His aggressiveness is high, even for a giant. He was hit with three injections before he calmed down enough for coherent speech the first time. The second time, he destroyed a transport.

We make our way up to the roof, and climb in the hover for the trip back to Joshua’s' small piece of land when he speaks up. "Hey 93, lets swing by the school for a minute; I want to see something."

"Sure, we got time, what's on your mind Josh?"

"When my brother was visiting the other day, I saw a new girl working with the kids. Do you know anything about her?"

Dan answered him, "I haven't seen anyone new. What does she look like?"

"Just swing by." Josh replied. It was a rare thing among the giants to have families, or even girlfriends of their own, but we did have a few. Owing to the aggressive nature of them, it made having relationships outside of fam very difficult. And it was closely monitored by the camp administration. The sheer physical strength they posses is astonishing. I have seen Josh crush a man’s skull with a single bare hand on a mission before, and it appeared as if he wasn't even exerting effort. If he were to lose control and kill an innocent civilian that, would be a mess requiring more government authority than we have in camp to clean the mess up. Fam is usually all the giants have, It's how they refer to one of their own kind. Of the 256 giants in this camp 11 have live-in mates. 

If we have the potential of seeing another giant successfully pair up with a normal woman, protocol requires that we follow up on it. All of the giants have a sex drive that I have been told is almost animalistic, and we have a certain discrete outside contractor that handles that aspect of their needs. If we have a legitimate pairing with the possibility of a long term relationship we have a standing order from the director himself that we must pursue it. 

The practice of having the giants meet with our outside contractor is encouraged for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it seems to keep them happy, and that is a good thing. Our last riot was 57years ago. Having a riot among the giants is a very deadly thing. Secondly our scientists have not yet been able to reproduce the YY mutation in the lab. For some reason it only happens with natural conception. Our government seems to think that if the giants are given the opportunity to procreate that will increase the occurrence of the mutation. I'm no scientist, but I don’t think it's working.

It only takes us a few minutes to get over to the school. There are several administration buildings in this part of the camp, and lots of transports hovering around. Us having a quick look at the school is not going to draw a lot of attention, however this interest that Joshua has mentioned is definitely going in my after-shift report. We have a school here because the support staff for the camp all live inside the fence, and a lot of them have kids. "Do you see her?" I ask.

I can see Josh, looking at the women monitoring the kids in the play area of the school. "No luck today 47, lets head on home." he said with a touch of disappointment in his voice. 

I thought a little probing here might be a good idea. “Hey Josh, what day was it you saw her?" I was trying to keep a friendly tone, so as not to upset him.

He replied, "Two days ago, when Jared was here to see me. We spent some time at the sundries depot across the way. That's when I saw her."

"I'll take a look at the log later today and see if they have anyone new on staff." I don't want to give him any false hope, but if we can get another matched pair, that will go a long way toward funding projects for the government penny pinchers. And smooth over some of the collateral damage that happens on missions. The higher ups in this government experiment think that the more giants we have with live-in mates the better chances we have of getting YY babies born. 

“Spin it up 93, you know the way.” I work with Dan almost every day, but technically speaking I out rank him. That’s why he drives, and I ride shotgun. “So Josh, how goes the wood working?” I am trying to make small talk because I know he is brooding over the woman he saw the other day. He works a small tree farm on the land that is set aside for him, and has become quite skilled as a carpenter. Making furniture by hand is all but a lost art form anymore. It keeps him occupied, and he seems to enjoy molding the wood into the beautiful pieces that have become display ornaments in the offices and homes of the people that work here.

“I have a nice desk I’ve been working on, if you know of anyone that wants it.” He paused and I could tell he wanted to change the subject. “You know if any missions are coming up?”

“I heard a rumor that there will be a new posting day after tomorrow. Do you want in?” I knew he did, why else would he ask. What I didn’t know was, what it was that was really on his mind. 

“Come on now 47, you know that all the fam loves the fight. The anticipation of the battle, the smell of combat, the rush of the hunt.” I have seen Joshua fight in the games we have here in the camp on multiple occasions. He is no slouch when it comes to trading fists with the other giants, but when we talk about going out under the cover of darkness on a covert government operation, seeing a giant in full combat armor is the closest thing my mind can come up with to compare to the word unstoppable. I have witnessed a team of five giants knock down entire buildings, and move on to the next target like it was a stroll in the park. 

“I’ll give you a heads up a few minutes before the posting goes up, be sure you are one of the first to tag it.” I know he will be. What he said was true; they love to fight. We, as guards, are government employees, and as such are not allowed to participate in covert combat exercises. However, we are also not permitted to have giant outside the camp without an escort. So every time the giants go on a mission, we go as well. Not as combatants, but as observers, and protectors of our charges. We go in full combat power armor as well, but our suits are equipped with kill switches to keep the giants from going beyond the parameters of the mission. If they over extend, we hit the switch, and their armor locks up rendering them immobile, and we can retrieve them at our leisure. 

“Thanks” he said with a small knowing grin.

“How did your visit with Jared go?” I asked. Jared is his fraternal twin brother. A baby's DNA is mapped at birth, and the YY chromosome is identified right away. Those with the YY are allowed to stay with their families until puberty, when the mutation begins to make physical manifestation. After they start to change they are brought to the internment camps, where they spend the rest of their lives. Some feel it’s unlawful imprisonment, while others feel it’s for the safety of society. I’m not a politician, I’m a government employee. I cannot voice my opinion one way or another. Not as long as I want to keep this job. I had to work my ass off to get it. It pays well and the perks are very nice too. I like my job. After my divorce I went through a very hard time in my life. Well, now that I think of it, the hard time actually started before the divorce. That was a long time ago. I’ve been sober for seven years now, a fact that I am very proud of. I worked very hard to get where I am. The physical challenges alone were enough to make 60% of the cadets wash out of the academy, not to mention the mental pressure they put on you in that place. And with my background it was doubly hard. I did not have the support of family to help get me through. I had to do it all on my own. Here I am five years inside the camp, power armor six days a week. I feel like I am finally at a place in my life where I belong. Two more years and I’ll be fully vested in the company. Dan has been here just over three years now. I was thinking about throwing him a party, to celebrate his hire anniversary. 

Joshua looked at me, or rather at the blank plascrete faceplate that would have been my face if I were not wearing armor. “He always has interesting things to say. We talked about everything from politics, to his new girlfriend.” Jared had extended his visit to just over six hours. I can understand him wanting to stay. It’s a long commute to his home from here, and the restrictions on visitation are not the most family friendly. “Speaking of girls, make sure you follow up at the school, 47.”

“Will do. Here we are. Always a pleasure, Joshua.” The hover was coming to a halt, and Dan had already released the lock on the cargo gate. “Until next time,” and with that he was on his way back into his woods.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A school visit, a shift commander, and a grumpy giant.

Karen's worked at the school for a year and a half now. She likes her job and working with the kids, but she's mainly there as a rep for the director. She's a short, pudgy woman, and she always has a smile. Dan and I walk in and she greets us with her usual cheerful "Good morning!"

"Hey Karen!" Dan replies. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good! How can I help you two today?" Karen said.

"One of the guys mentioned seeing someone new here. Would you mind if we check out your visitor's log?" I asked with a bit of curiosity of my own.

"Oh my, one of our boys got a love interest?" This was not a usual request for her, and the idea of someone of she knew getting together with a giant was something that pushed her imagination into overdrive. She was a nice enough person, but in my opinion she spent way to much time reading romance novels. In her mind the giants were Adonis, Mars, and Zeus all rolled into one wanting to whisk her away on some romantic adventure. She has no idea how dangerous these guys really are. She has not met any of the few mated couples, and is clueless how tough those women really are. 

I’ve been out there; I go out there almost every day. I’ve met them, and talked with them. While on the outside they are very beautiful, and very fit, I would not want to cross one of them outside of my power armor. Karen has an over romanticized idea of what it is to be the mate to giant. The women that choose to accept the life on a giant’s piece of land are a very rare breed. They are beautiful, intelligent, articulate, and very, very strong. They are nothing like the women that work for our contractor. Personally I have a very low opinion of those women. I understand the role they have, and the need for it, but I still have no respect for them. 

Dan chuckles, "Hopefully," he replies. 

Karen knows full-well the policy on giants and mates and starts to tap away on her computer. When she has the right page up, she says, "Ah, here we go!" and turns the screen around with a smaller smile."I'm afraid we haven't had any new visitors in a few months." True to her word, the screen shows no new visitations to the school in over three months. We both scan it over again to make sure we hadn't missed anything.

After thinking about it for a minute Dan asks "Can we see all the logs?" I know he’s just trying to be thorough, but I have a suspicion, and I’m not sure I want Dan to know about it yet. 

"Absolutely!" Karen replies, and turns the computer to tap away again. We can see the progress she is making on the new list through the transparent screen, and I’m still indecisive about letting Dan in on my thoughts. 

"Dan, how about you go see your girlfriend, I can handle this." Dan turns to me with a confused look. I’m sure he’s curious about the names on the list. 

"You sure? I don't meet her for another hour..." he said, but I could hear a touch of excitement in his voice. 

"I'm sure, I've got this. Go have fun with Jen." I responded to him a little faster than was probably appropriate. “Stop over at the sundries and pick her up a nice gift, she’ll love that.” She’s a nice girl. I think they make a good couple. They have been together for about 10 months now. I haven't met anyone I've wanted to date seriously after my divorce. I have been out with a few people, but no one I would consider having long tern compatibility with. 

“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He turns to walk out of the school with a farewell nod of his head to Karen and I. I consider Dan to be a good friend of mine. We have worked together as partners for quite some time now. We usually hit the gym together right after shift as soon as the armor comes off. We have to be in tip top shape as a job requirement. The physical demands are not really all that bad because the armor does most of the work for us, but it is a machine, and subject to failure. We have some of the best techs on mars to keep the suits in good working order for us, but it’s always good to be able to get yourself out of a jam on your own. 

Karen has the list ready, and turns the screen to me. What I see surpises me. “Karen, what’s going on with this list? Some of these log times have no name next to them.” 

“Those entries were not on the first list because we had some inspectors come to the school the other day, and their names are not to be released to anyone without the directors approval.” I had forgotten about the inspection. “You can ask him, I know this is a special case.” 

“Thanks, I will.” I tap the screen a few times and a new face appears. A nice looking woman, in her mid twenties, I would guess. 

“Director Howard's office, how can I help you?” she said with the same warmth that could commonly be found under the rocks out on the frozen tundra. 

“Guard officer 47 with a special request for the director.” I offered her the same amount of warmth in return. 

“One moment.” she replied. I stood there with Karen for an uncomfortable two minutes waiting for the receptionist to connect me. My thoughts wandered for a moment, I was sure she got the job in the director’s office based on her looks, her personality left much to be desired. 

The directors’ face appeared on the screen. “What is it officer?” He said in a tone that conveyed genuine interest. I explained the situation to him fairly quickly, without including a lot of unnecessary details. I know he is a busy man, and I don’t want to take up much of this time. After I finished telling him about the reason for my inquiry, he paused in thought. After only a moment he said “Are you familiar with this giant?” 

“He is part of my regular patrol, yes sir.” I answer. 

“I can only grant you partial access. For this purpose, names are not needed yet, only faces.” I could tell he was tapping on his screen, and a second later faces appeared next to the log times in front of me. “Officer, that is sensitive information, so I’ll be tracking that data. You be careful with it.” 

“Yes, sir.” I said as I swept the information off the screen, and onto my hand held. “I’ll keep you posted.” 

“You do that. I want to be kept up to date with any potential coupling. You got me officer?” His tone indicated the end of our conversation. 

“Yes, sir. Thank you sir.” His image disappeared from the screen, and I looked at Karen. “That wasn’t so bad” I could tell by the look on her face that she had very little interaction with the director. He is a powerful man inside the camp. He is responsible for everything from deliveries to security on a very large government installation. I can only imagine the pressure he feels when something goes wrong. I’ve only ever actually seen him face to face on a few occasions. The first time I saw him was my second day after I got hired at this facility, during orientation. He’s a big man, not what I was expecting when I was introduced. My guess is he’s in his late sixties, but he is very active, and takes good care of himself too. He is not the kind of man that would give an order to his employees to stay in shape and then not do it himself. I have respect for him. I sometimes hear others complain about him, and make fun at his expense, due to the fact that he does not have a hair on head, not even an eyebrow. I think that everyone would agree, whether they like him or not, when it comes to running this camp, he can be counted on when things get ugly. 

“Good luck.” said Karen. 

“Thanks.” I replied, and I turned to walk away. I started to look over the list on my way out the door, my feet paying more attention to where I was headed than I was. I’ve walked this building so many times I could do it blindfolded. My friend Joanie works here. She has been inside the fence longer that I have, and was one of the first people to befriend me when I got here. Orientation for new hire guards does not include a tour of the entire camp. I met her at the drink shop near the entrance my third week here. It was one of the first things I noticed when I came in the camp, and I memorized its location. It became sort of a regular hang out for me. I was in there one day tapping on my portable, when she decided to start up a conversation with me. We hit it off and have been friends ever since. She showed me around areas of the camp that she was allowed to go to, and that really helped me get my bearings when I started. I never really thought of her as a romantic interest, just a good friend. 

I decided to go visit Joanie, She was on the same floor just down the hall and few rooms over. When I buzzed the door she looked up, and let me in. “Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be at work.” she said with a knowing smile. 

“You know I can’t get enough of this place.” I responded, and leaned down to give her a quick hug. Joanie loves the kids; I’ve teased her about the fact that she likes to be around them because they are the only people around here that are shorter than her. In truth she always dreamed of being a teacher. She has told me that ever since she was a little girl, she wanted this job. She didn’t care where it was she just wanted to be in a classroom. When she got her degree, she put feelers out on the net, and happened to get noticed by a government bureaucrat. 10 years later she still has the same classroom. “Hey, I have a question for you. Do you remember the inspection that happened the other day?” 

“Sure, I remember. You know those inspections are about a fun as a visit to the proctologist.” she said with a completely straight face. Working on a government facility does have its down side. Not only is her classroom under the constant microscope of the government, it’s also the Guiney pig for whatever new program they want to implement worldwide. “Is something wrong?” 

“No, if something were wrong they wouldn’t send me, they know we’re friends.” I reassured her. I showed her the list of faces that the director had given me, and asked if she recognized them. I knew she would, but I had no other idea how to start this conversation. “Dan and I brought one of the big guys in yesterday for a regular meet with the doc, and he said he saw a girl here that he had an interest in. It just happened to be on an inspection day, and I was wondering if you might have an idea who he might have been looking at?” 

“Oh, come on now. You would have a better idea than I would. You spend time with those guys every day. You know them and what they like.” She said with a smile. She was right, I would know better, but I wanted her opinion anyway. “Let me see those faces. I remember seeing a couple of them that were very pretty, but I don’t think any of them would be nearly enough woman for one of those brutes.” I had to agree. I didn’t think that any of them would be strong enough to live with a giant. 

“Yeah, you are probably right.” I conceded. “It was just a thought, and I have to follow up on these things.” I decided to spend the rest of her break time between classes with her talking about how things have been going and in general just catching up with her, and her life. 

After leaving the school, I went over to the main guard building to check in with the shift commander, and give him an update on the Joshua situation. It was a round squat building with a rather large motor pool attached to the back side of it, where all of our equipment is stored and maintained. I can see the techs back there now, moving vehicles around, and working on them. We have a wide range of vehicles to choose from. The standard transports are the most numerous, and right behind that are the heavy transports. We have a few one person zoomers, light weight, and very fast. We also have a couple of the high end VIP transports. A section of the motor pool has been divided off for the repair and maintenance of personal transports. I don’t have a personal one; I just don’t see the need. I rarely ever go outside the fence, and we have a perfectly good, if small, public transport system right here for us to use.

I enter the building, and make my way past the offices, to Commander Tanner's. I gently tap on the door, “Hey boss,” I say to announce that I’m in his doorway. 

“Come on in," He waved his hand vaguely at one of the chairs in front of his desk. "What have you got for me?” he says before stuffing a fat cigar back in his mouth. He’s a gruff old fart, but we get along well. He reminds me of an uncle I had a long time ago, when I was just a kid. Kindly, and looking out for my best interest, and at the same time ready for whatever mischief would get us a stern look from my mom. “Dan told me you two might have a live one. What’s the story?” he said in all seriousness. 

“Well, he spoke the truth. When Dan and I brought 128 in for his bi-monthly he mentioned an interest in someone he saw at the school. 128 wasn’t at the school; he had a visitor, and saw the girl from across the way while they were at the sundries depot.” I reported. “I have a list of everyone that was at the school at the time. I was going to show their faces to 128 to see if he recognized her.” I said, fixating on the facts. 

“Ok, but be careful. Tomorrow, I want you to go ahead and swing by 128 on your way back from checking on 44. His leg should be all healed up by now, but I’m sure he’s still as ornery as ever. I think he is still medicated, but be on your toes just in case.” Damn, I did not want to go see Ken. I think he might still be a little mad at me for hitting him with the sedatives. “Take Smithers and Rucker with you. Just to be on the safe side, you’ll be better off having 4 sets of eyes out there.” Double damn; Rucker is an asshole. I agree, we will be safer having four of us on site, but bad things tend to happen around Rucker. 

“That’s why you get the big bucks, you’re the boss.” I said, though my words were somewhat strained. “Do you want me to take them with over to 128 too?” 

“No, you and Dan will be fine over there by yourselves. Now get out of here, I got shit to do.” he said with half his cigar in his teeth. Crazy old codger, those things are going to give him cancer. Not that that’s a bad thing, two weeks in sick bay and you’re good as new. I think he’s had it three times now. I wonder if he looks forward to it, like it’s some kind of paid vacation. He’s been here a very long time, I’m sure he just wants to be waited on hand and foot for a while. I can’t really blame him for that. He doesn’t get much waiting on at home. I think he’s on his third wife now. For some reason they keep leaving him, and I think it has to do with living on this camp. 

I don’t like having to work with Rucker. Seems to me like everything he says about the giants is negative. He grew up a spoiled affluent kid that had everything paid for by his parents. He was the kid that was sent off to an expensive summer camp every year, so his parents could have some quiet time without him around. He tells stories about the summer camp having to be multipurpose, so the fat kids could have a summer camp too. He spoke with bravado about how much he would taunt them with food that they were not allowed to have, like they were lesser people than he. That’s how he refers to the giants, the ‘fat kids’. The irony is that the giants are anything but fat. He sees them as less than human, because they were born different. He is smart enough not to taunt the giants, but I think they can sense his feelings about them. It’s a good thing he wears power armor. 

~~~

The next day the four of us arrive at Ken’s parcel of land in two separate transports, and announce our presence. I sent an electronic message to him 30 minutes ago, and another one 5 minutes ago. I’m sure he knows we are here, but Smithers uses the loud speaker to let Ken know we've landed. He’s not in the house; he’s out in the field behind the house. “Can we come around?” Smithers asks, voice reverberating on empty air. 

“Yea, come on around!” we hear him bellow, followed by a sound vaguely like a thunder clap. We make our way around the side of his dwelling, keeping our spacing from one another. Years of training has taught us not to bunch up when going into a potentially dangerous situation. When I see Ken, he's standing over what appears to be a very large rock in his field. I can see that a portion of the rock is protruding from the ground, but obviously the majority of the rock is buried deep in the ground. 

Ken is a mountain of a man. He is 7 foot 8 inches and 500 plus earth pounds of nothing I want to piss off. In his hands is a hammer that he made himself, and I can only describe it as _massive_. “I’m trying to bust up this rock.” he says, and takes another swing. The crack of thunder bursts though my helmet, and I wince a little. I actually felt the ground shake through my armor that time. A new fissure is running through the length of the boulder, and Ken smiles at it proudly. I think if we give him enough time he might crack the planet. 

“Ken,” I said, amplified though my suit. We don’t dare call him 44. He hates that. He finds the idea of being given a number over a name to be incredibley offensive. I actually agree with him on this point; I don’t like my number either, but this is the world we live in. 

He turned and looked at me and almost like the thunder he produced, a rumbling “47.” came out of him. 

I raised my hands in a placating manner, saying “We’re just here to check on your leg. You took a nasty cut at the games and we want to make sure you’re healing ok.” He seemed to accept this and slowly set his hammer down. I know he feels resentment about this as well. He is a kept animal, unable to go where he wants, or do as he pleases. Having to submit to what he calls 'mothering' over a wound that would heal just fine on its own. Dan moves around to the side of the giant and holds the scanner out in front of the wrapped leg. 

“Looks like the muscle reattachments are almost completely healed, and there should be minimal scaring. How does it feel?” Dan asked, looking up from his device. 

“Seems like it works just fine to me.” Ken rumbled out. “Anything more you girls have on your dance card, or is that all you came down here for?” We knew coming into this that Ken was going to be grumpy.

"We should let him get back to playing with his rock." I say over the com, so Ken cannot hear it. The others are quick to agree, even Rucker, who I can see is tense through the suit.

“Thanks for your time Ken,” I said. He grumbled and picked up his hammer. With that as our dismissal, we head back around to our transports. We were climbing back in our hover when I hear another thunder clap, along with the slide and shudder of earth as if something large had crashed into the ground.

“Hey Smithers, we are good for 128. Boss man says you can head on back, we’ll catch up with you later.” I said over the voice com in the hover. 

“First round is on you when you get back.” he replied, and with that they were off in the direction of the admin buildings. We were heading the other direction over to Joshua’s to see what he thinks of the list we have. I send a message to Joshua to let him know we are on our way out to see him. 

_‘Joshua, 47 & 93 on our way out to your land, are you available to meet with us?’_ I hit send and wait for a response. A minute later a flash on my screen indicates that he will meet us at his gate when we get there. 

A few minutes later we are coming to a halt just outside Joshua’s gate, and I can see it is closing behind him. I climb out and walk over to him with my handheld display ready. Dan is out of the hover a second later and standing a short ways away. Policy dictates that we have to have at least two guards present when dealing with the giants. We have to maintain our spacing in the event that giant decides to attack, so that they can only get to one of us at a time, and the other guard can jump in to sedate the giant before any serious damage is dealt. It is unlikely that this will happen with Joshua, but we must follow protocol. “Hey, Joshua. How are you today?” I greet him. 

“Busy, why are you here?” He asks. I can tell by the sweat on his face and the sawdust on his forearms that he’s been working in his wood shop. 

“I have a list of people that were at the school the day you saw the woman you expressed an interest in.” Not wanting to annoy him, or take up more of his time I get right to the point, and I hand him the screen with several faces displayed. I wait patiently while he scrolls down the list. He has moved past the faces without names to my surprise, so the one he is interested in is not one of the inspectors that were at the school. 

“That’s her.” he says confidantly, and turns the screen so I can see the half dozen faces displayed. Oh no, the suspicion I felt at the school when I first saw the list with Karan is clenching at my gut. 

“Can you be more specific?” I ask with dread slowly building it's way up my throat. 

He taps the screen one time, and the face that his finger was over doubles in size."The tall red head." He says to me in a matter of fact tone. Oh shit, I know that face. I don’t even have to look at the screen to know the name displayed next to it; Laura Ann Shroder. I can feel my heart sinking in my chest, and my stomach rising to meet it. I’m imencely grateful Dan can't see the screen.

I look up at Josh and say “I’ll see what I can do, Joshua. Thanks for your time.” He nodded, and turned to go back to his shop to keep sanding whatever piece of furniture was currently on the work bench. “Let’s go.” I tell Dan, and we mount up. “I have a report to file.” 

What am I going to do?


End file.
